Michigan’s farmers are essential to our state, but their crops are under attack from an invasive insect species — a type of fruit fly called the spotted wing drosophila (SWD). The invasive insect is damaging crops and hurting the livelihoods of growers across our state and country, but I’m working hard in the Senate to stop them.
The fly lays its eggs in fruit including cherries and blueberries, making it so they cannot be sold to buyers. These flies cause an estimated $700 million in losses every year. That’s one of the reasons I worked with our growers and Michigan State University on the bipartisan Spotted Wing Abatement Trust (SWAT) Act, which would help mitigate the spread of this pest while cutting costs for growers and protecting their crops from being spoiled to begin with.
Source: orionontv.org
Photo Credit: pexels-nikolett-emmert
Categories: Michigan, Crops